The Church of St Philip and St James in Lukiškės

In the early 20th century, Lukiškės was a green suburb of Vilnius on the bank of the River Neris surrounded by orchards and gardens. Its main feature was the magnificent Baroque twin-tower Church of St Philip and St James, built by the Dominicans in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. In this engraving by an unknown artist, the church is pictured from the marketplace in an open and natural landscape. It is surrounded by trees: there are no other buildings around it, not even the Dominican friary with the city’s oldest hospital near it. The engraving appeared in the fourth volume of Historye cudownych obrazów Najświętsziej Maryi Panny w Polsce (Miracle-Working Pictures of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Poland) by Alojzy Fridrich, printed in Cracow in 1911, which contained some pictures of Vilnius churches. The picture of the Blessed Virgin Mary attracted crowds of pilgrims to the church. After its restoration in 2008–2012, and the removal of later layers of paint, it has turned out to be the oldest easel painting in Lithuania painted by Russian painters in the late 15th and early 16th centuries in the Byzantine tradition (Tojana Račiūnaitė, ‘Lukiškių Dievo Motinos ikonos atodanga: restauravimas, ikonografija ir kilmės klausimas’, Acta Academiae Artium Vilnensis, t. 68, 2013, p. 65–94).

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album VILNIUS. TOPOPHILIA I (2014). Compiler and author Laima Laučkaitė
Expositions: “Vilnius. Topophilia. Views of Vilnius from the collection of the law firm Ellex Valiunas”, 5 October – 26 November 2017, National Gallery of Art, Vilnius (curator Laima Laučkaitė)

In the early 20th century, Lukiškės was a green suburb of Vilnius on the bank of the River Neris surrounded by orchards and gardens. Its main feature was the magnificent Baroque twin-tower Church of St Philip and St James, built by the Dominicans in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. In this engraving by an unknown artist, the church is pictured from the marketplace in an open and natural landscape. It is surrounded by trees: there are no other buildings around it, not even the Dominican friary with the city’s oldest hospital near it. The engraving appeared in the fourth volume of Historye cudownych obrazów Najświętsziej Maryi Panny w Polsce (Miracle-Working Pictures of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Poland) by Alojzy Fridrich, printed in Cracow in 1911, which contained some pictures of Vilnius churches. The picture of the Blessed Virgin Mary attracted crowds of pilgrims to the church. After its restoration in 2008–2012, and the removal of later layers of paint, it has turned out to be the oldest easel painting in Lithuania painted by Russian painters in the late 15th and early 16th centuries in the Byzantine tradition (Tojana Račiūnaitė, ‘Lukiškių Dievo Motinos ikonos atodanga: restauravimas, ikonografija ir kilmės klausimas’, Acta Academiae Artium Vilnensis, t. 68, 2013, p. 65–94).

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album VILNIUS. TOPOPHILIA I (2014). Compiler and author Laima Laučkaitė
Expositions: “Vilnius. Topophilia. Views of Vilnius from the collection of the law firm Ellex Valiunas”, 5 October – 26 November 2017, National Gallery of Art, Vilnius (curator Laima Laučkaitė)